Energy is a bigger problem in first world countries than third world countries, but in most places some form of energy is being used. It would be wonderful to get reliable sources of energy to anywhere in the world so that people could access the internet for education, have heating or cooling, and even just having electric lights in their homes so they can stay up later if they wish. However, it is no secret that the main source of our energy, fossil fuels, are not very renewable resources. If we want to continue having power for our homes, cars, and anything else, we need to find a more efficient source of energy than dead dinosaurs. However, new research suggests that running out of fossil fuels isn't what's going to undo us in the end. This graph shows how the US production of oil and natural gas has not greatly affected the remaining amount of those resources. There is enough of each left that we aren't that close to running out of it. However, there are still ill-effects. The emissions from all of the fuels have caused a great deal of climate change. Since there isn't as much pressure on changing to other fuels since there is still a good amount of ancient materials, not much is being done to stop using fossil fuels. Any change will be driven by the need to stop global warming rather than lack of fossil fuels. While we all are aware of the impending doom climate change could bring (flooding, extinction of many organisms, lack of oxygen, etc.) not much is being done about it. The US's energy consumption is only growing, and clean sources of energy are not used very much. Most clean energy sources are deemed too expensive, or impractical. Solar panels are very costly, and not everyone has the space to put a wind turbine up in their yard. To solve this problem, finding a cheaper, cleaner source of energy would be crucial. This would require further knowledge of why clean energy sources are so expensive (cost of materials, and how energy companies that would lose money to the clean sources play into this). Also, to create this clean energy, knowing engineering could greatly help. It could allow you to find more efficient ways to make solar panels that cost less and collect more energy. Personally to solve this problem, I could try to get the school to invest in solar panels. Even just using the SensorTag (if I had access to the roof) I could conduct an experiment to see if it would be worth it for the school to put up the panels. I would need to know how much sunlight solar panels need to produce a certain amount of energy, the cost per panel, as well as the school's total energy consumption, and area of the roof. With this knowledge I could conduct an experiment with the hypothesis "If the school invests in solar panels, then they will burn less fossil fuels, and in the long run, save money." The independent variable would be how much sunlight hits the roof throughout the day, and the dependent variable would be how much energy the school would make from said sunlight, and how much money they could cut off of the energy bill. It would be important to pay attention to how much the panels would cost, because you wouldn't want the school to be in debt because of solar panels. This could give the clean source of energy a bad reputation, even though it is likely the school would be paid back in the amount they saved on energy because of the panels. While clean energy should be used regardless of the cost because of how beneficial it is, people have their best interests in mind. The money aspect of the above experiment is more so to convince the school to install solar panels than to gain profit. The school has tons of lights that seem to constantly be on (I've seen the school at around 7pm on a Saturday while driving by and most of the buildings were lit up like Christmas despite most likely being empty). The amount of energy used must be huge, and although it is being used for tons of people at once and more efficient than everyone having their own lights (sort of like carpooling) we could be even more ecofriendly by using solar power. Sources:
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AuthorHi, I'm Abi, a DSA student who likes games, drawing, writing, and acting. Archives
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